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this.” He pressed his hands on her hips and kissed her neck as though that was all the proof he needed.
    â€œWhat’s my favorite color, Riot?”
    â€œHuh?”
    â€œExactly.” Chase grabbed his hair, hauling his face from its desperate mission toward her cleavage. “Tell me why you thought we were dying.”
    â€œThey screamed over the emergency radio that you were crashing, but we didn’t have enough fuel to get back out to you. Sylph panicked.”
    â€œWait. Sylph was worried about us?”
    â€œJet Fighter Barbie has a heart after all.” He tried to kiss her again, but she held back.
    â€œSo…you were called to save me? The tower broke radio silence? What did they say?”
    â€œKale was yelling over and over, ‘ Get to Dragon ! Dragon is going down! ’ They wanted us to get to you, although I’m not sure what we could have done except guard the crash site. Maybe call in your parachute if you had time to punch out.”
    Chase’s mind turned over slowly. “They called you by name? I mean, they called Pegasus ? Did they say, ‘ Pegasus, get to Dragon ?’”
    Riot blew out a frustrated breath. “Who else would they be talking to?” He pulled her close and kissed the top of her head, which made her want to knock him away and fix her hair. Only she didn’t.
    The pieces were lining up.
    Dragon is going down!
    That’s why the third Streaker had appeared. Phoenix wasn’t an enemy. It had been tuned into the same emergency frequency.
    That pilot had answered the call to rescue them.

6
NO JOY
Loss of Radio or Visual Contact
    Pippin was in their small room, looking bone-tired and sprawled across the lower bunk. He pulled off huge headphones when Chase came in, and classical music thumped through them. “What happened with Kale?”
    â€œHe wouldn’t say anything, but by my powers of deduction, I figured out that whoever Phoenix is, he’s a friendly. The tower called out to him. They thought we were crashing.”
    â€œHow could they make that mistake?” Pippin snarked.
    Weariness rolled over Chase. Flying was one thing, but handling people’s emotions—even Pippin’s—took more out of her than she liked to admit. This was delicate. Pippin was being distant and tight-lipped about something important. She knew she should proceed with caution, but when he tried to disappear beneath his headphones, she sat on him instead.
    â€œYou’ve been weird since we saw the third Streaker.”
    â€œYou’re all wet!” He pushed her off.
    â€œIncident in the showers.”
    Pippin lifted his eyebrow, throwing a secret sort of guilt at her. He was the only one who could do that, and she didn’t like him for it. “Riot? Or are we on to someone new these days?”
    â€œIt was Riot, but thanks for that.” She unlaced her boots so she wouldn’t have to look at Pippin. The adrenaline drive that had kept her moving from Kale’s office to the rec room to the boys’ locker room was draining fast. Stillness crept in. “I caught Sylph trying to hollow out Tanner’s face in the ring. He’s talking trash about Riot and me.”
    â€œTanner’s going to wash out if he doesn’t get under control,” Pippin said. “Is that what you’re worried about?”
    Chase nodded. Could she have hurt Tanner so much that he’d drop out of the academy? She scrubbed her face. “Feels like watching him crash and burn.”
    â€œIt is, in a way.” Pippin’s eyes were on her, hard and bleak. “You shouldn’t have played with him. He had real feelings for you.”
    â€œI wasn’t playing, but I do feel like I’m stuck on a Ferris wheel. Same problems over and over.” Guilt dumped on her like an avalanche. “Riot said he loves me. Ugh.”
    â€œAnd you told him he doesn’t know you?”
    â€œHow do